There's a reason they always say "first impressions are usually right." Keeping that in mind, we at The Shit present our recurring series Five Minute Record Reviews. Here's the premise, yours truly opens the CD, scans each song on the album AND writes the review in five minutes.

Zomby - With Love

Zzz...sorry dosed off there. As with most breakbeat/IDM stuff, a little goes a long way, which is why the thought of a 2-CD collection of vacuous electro-twiddling from Zomby exceeds my tolerance for song-deficient synth noodling. I'm all about delayed gratification, but this is taking it to ridiculous lengths, then never delivering. Makes Aphex Twin seem like the Bay City Rollers by comparison.

Pacific Air - Stop Talking

Santa Ana's Pacific Air is the brainchild of brothers Ryan and Taylor Lawhon, who have an uncanny knack for creating the sort of moody pop gems that Coldplay's Chris Martin was writing before he decided he'd rather be Bono Version 2.0. While "Lose My Mind" and "Float" seem to be the songs the band and label are focusing on, the real winner is "Roses" with its anthemic falsetto refrain.

My Bloody Valentine - mbv

On MBV, Kevin Shields and Co. do the impossible by exceeding the legend that has become its own continent in the hundred years or so since their last album. While taking this long to finish an album is usually a sure sign of impending disaster ("Chinese Democracy", anyone?), MBV have overcome the odds and made the best album of their career.

Various Artists - The Dutch Woodstock 1970

While the name of the album is a tad misleading - the legendary 1970 rock fest was actually called Kralingen Music Festival 1970 - the roster of bands highlighting this collection include Pink Floyd, T. Rex, Al Stewart, Jefferson Airplane, Family, The Flock, The Byrds, and Santana all arguably at or near the top of their game. The band that stole the show, however, was Canned Heat, who absolutely blow the roof off the dump with "Human Condition".